Anyone ever have a horror show with a particular boat/brand?  

Go to thehulltruth.com and do a search on "angler boats"   It does not get worse than what happened to that guy.

Until I got my new outboard,just about every trip was a horror show.

Yes - Smokercraft. Don't ever buy a Smokercraft. Horribly made bass boats - popped over 28 rivets in a single year on a one-year-old boat, then they wouldn't honor their warranty. In fact, the boats were built so bad, I don't think they even make bass boats any more.

Oh, and did I mention the hull literally split in two places?  Ya, about 2 feet long each along the strakes.  

They used to post their warranty on their website, but now they don't. And their FAQ basically says, "Contact a dealer" for every question. Pretty clear indication of how much they back their products.

Ranger, on the other hand, welcomes direct contact with their customers and proudly displays their warranty on their website.

Night and day difference, if you ask me.

Check the websites of the boats you're interested in. What they don't say, tells you a lot.

The guy at my local tackle shop competes and about a yr and a half ago bought a brand new stratos.  He dragged it out to michigan or somplace like that to fish in an FLW tourny and the transom cracked.  They "repaired" it and sent boat back to him 3 months later only to have it crack even worse the next time out.  This time the transom plate came right through the glass!!  He brought it back again and it was FINALLY(11 MONTHS LATER) REPLACED BY THE FACTORY WITH A BRAND NEW 21' BOAT.  tHEY THREW IN A COVER FOR GOOD MEASURE.

 nEEDLESS TO SAY, THEY DID EVENTUALLY TAKE CARE OF THE CUSTOMER BUT  the poor guy had to miss an entire season w/ no boat!